Will Tamils be driven to another insurrection?

By Dr Vickramabahu Karunaratne

(August 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government blamed UN agencies for floods in IDP camps in Vavuniya saying they had taken the responsibility to construct drainage systems and flood preventive measures at the sites. “The UN agencies involved in the IDP camps had taken the responsibility of constructing the drainage systems and flood preventive measures.

Need lots of mercy

So the Government cannot be blamed for the poor condition of the drainage systems which burst and failed,” Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Management, Rishard Bathiudeen told the Daily Mirror online. This minister will certainly need lots of mercy in time to come. The Mahinda regime blamed the West and the UN for helping the LTTE, when in reality the West and global capital gave Mahinda all that it could muster to escape the wrath of the working masses. Now after putting nearly three hundred thousand people behind barbed wire, claiming that there are Tigers still among them, the Mahinda regime thinks it is alright to blame the West for the misery they themselves created. Does it mean that all this destruction and suffering were created by global powers (including of course India), and the Mahinda regime was only a puppet ? Mahinda cannot have it both ways. He is like Hugo Chavez, a formidable enemy of the West! That is what the lunatics of the Nidahas Peramuna want us to believe. But unfortunately, all evidence provided by Mahinda show that he is guided by the West and is behaving like a zombie of Manmohan Singh.

Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, rejecting the claim that there is a serious situation that has arisen due to floods, warned that the LTTE terrorists masquerading as civilians are now taking refuge among the displaced. Apparently they could resume attacks if the government gave into internal and external pressure and released them.

He said further, that there were a lot of explosives, arms and ammunition buried in the Vanni, particularly in the eastern part. When we talk about families suffering due to rain, mud and excreta, without even food and water, he screams about hunting terrorists. If Tamils are terrorists to that extent then the war is bunkum. Since Tamil rebels are a part of the Tamil population, Gotabhaya will have to push all the Tamils into an open prison and keep an eye on them. I am afraid if thedefence secretary continues in this strain, all Lankan Tamils could once again resort to an armed insurrection may be with newly found mass destructive weapons! He does not appear to have the words of peace and reconciliation in his vocabulary. There is a tragedy in Lanka where mass genocide is taking place at a slow pace. Even in military rationale the winner should be magnanimous. Otherwise, instead of terrorists taking refuge among the displaced, all the displaced will become terrorists.

Exploit the IDP situation

Heavy rain during last week caused floods at the camp sites in Vavuniya. This is due to the faulty drainage system, forcing some of the displaced people to shift to other areas for shelter.

This pathetic situation attracted the attention of American and European leaders, who brought pressure on the government for immediate action.

The defence secretary said that after failing to throw a lifeline to the LTTE, the Opposition and a section of the international community had now launched a fresh campaign to exploit the IDPs situation. “This is most likely to be their last trump card,” he said pointing out that recent statements attributed to various individuals and organizations had shed light on their plan. Does the defence secretary seriously believe that American and European leaders helped the LTTE and ARE now trying to exploit the IDP situation?

-Sri Lanka Guardian